


Starkiller to Skywalker

by PhantomPhan16, VicenteValtieri



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 18:49:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18922954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomPhan16/pseuds/PhantomPhan16, https://archiveofourown.org/users/VicenteValtieri/pseuds/VicenteValtieri
Summary: The First Order has lost, and the Republic begins de-programming its members. Hux puts up a fight as Luke tries to help him.





	Starkiller to Skywalker

It was amazing how the Empire's evil continued to impress Luke more and more with the pure extent of itself. By all logic, it should have been nearly impossible to so thoroughly brainwash so many generations of troopers, officers, and Generals. But by some hand, it had been done. And now every single one of them needed to be un-programmed.

 

It would be long and hard, but it had to be done. They were slowly moved off with volunteers to shelter and help them, one by one. One now remained, one he himself would be tending to.

 

He ran a hand through pale blonde hair. In one of his worse moods, he had experimented with Sith Alchemy, trying to make it from the Light Side – to reconcile the two halves of the Force. The result had blown up in his face and turned back the clock on his body. He had yet to discover what the long-term effects would be, but for now he really did feel twenty again.

 

He continued try, and thankfully nothing quite so drastic happened again, though he did occasionally make objects in the room with him disappear or spontaneously combust. Nothing major though. Of course he wasn't actually twenty again either, he was thirty, which was still a pretty big leap backwards.

 

He steeled himself in front of the cell's solitary door. No normal prison had held this last officer. The most singularly devoted and mad of them all. Starkiller. General Hux. Luke carefully pressed his mechanical hand to the switch and stepped through into the bare, sterile room.

 

Armitage Hux was sitting back in a chair, his stomach bearing the telltale curve of pregnancy, and Luke froze.

 

It was clear the General didn't recognize Luke. He had a slightly vacant, drooping expression and was staring straight through the wall. Luke carefully approached, waving a hand in front of the General's eyes. No reaction. He remained slack. It was only when Luke touched his shoulder that he attacked.

 

 

"General, stop! Stop, you're in no danger!"

 

This had happened with some of the other officers. The priority had been set as such: Stormtroopers first, then working their way up the ranks. Many of the officers had been abused while Luke was working with the Stormtroopers - whose programming was more shallow and less thorough. To make it more complicated, added to the obvious abuse was the General's own programming - which identified him as an enemy.

 

He pressed out with the Force to Hux's mind, seeking to calm him.

 

He found a raving storm of fear and anguish, the desire to not be suborned again, meeting the desire to survive and to escape. It took all his focus, as he kept the General held in a - perhaps harsh - submission lock to bring him back from the precipice of helpless rage and settle him down.

 

Armitage blinked several times. "... Come for me at last have you?" he finally spoke.

 

"Do you know who I am?"

"I know there's a Jedi who's breaking the minds of my officer's open and dragging them back from the precipice of brutal insanity." He spoke with a harsh sarcasm. "Charitable, for those such as us."

 

"Charming, General. My name is Luke Skywalker, and we're doing this to help you, even if you don't see it."

 

"Luke Skywalker is over sixty years old. Away with your feeble lies." He struggled briefly against the hold. "I would rather be executed than lose myself."

 

"I had an... incident experimenting with Sith Alchemy, and it appears you have more to think about than yourself, General." Armitage touched his stomach.

 

"You can let go. I'm not so arrogant that I think I can take a Jedi on by myself."

 

Luke released him and stepped back. "You'll be coming with me, General. Is there anything you wish to bring, clothes, keepsakes?"

 

"All I have is what's on my back." The General stood up and gathered his dark coat further around himself. Someone had torn it open so violently that all the buttons had come off. "Does this seem a place that would give a man his minutiea? I was lucky to keep this."

 

"Then we'll get you more clothes, any kind you want, and of course clothes for the child."

 

"I'm not keeping it. Once its born, I want nothing more to do with it."

 

"...Very well."

 

Luke led him out, noticing the uneasy glances of the guards as they walked past them. How many of them were just uncomfortable being in the presence of the Starkiller and how many were worried because of the things they had done?

 

He would investigate later, or rather Han would. The former smuggler still carried a lot of weight and respect from the younger soldiers for his role in the Rebellion, and he could make them sing like a canary when he put his mind to it. Most were too awed by Luke's abilities or Leia's fame to admit any wrong doing, but Han had a way of getting them to talk. It made Luke even more glad his friend had escaped Starkiller Base and the wrath of Kylo Ren.

 

Hux rode to the new Jedi Temple with a quiet attitude that didn’t even approach acceptance. He was already plotting escapes in his mind. Already trying to find the way out of this mess. To get out of the way and start again – nothing else mattered to him.

 

The atmosphere of the Temple was... the most peaceful one he had ever felt entering... anywhere. It was if the very building was content.

 

It didn't soothe him, but he was tired, hungry, and weak. He needed his strength back before he tried to escape.

 

Luke brought him to his quarters and pointed to a door. "That one will be your room. You can rest if you like while I make dinner."

 

Great. Another cell. He stepped through, wondering if he would be able to repair his greatcoat before he made his escape.

 

He crawled into the bed and all but collapsed. The matress was heavenly, soft yet supportive.

 

He hardly realized he had fallen asleep until he was being woken.

 

"General, dinner is ready. You need to eat."

 

"Go away." He groaned, rubbing his eyes.

 

"You need to eat something." Luke pulled him up. "Fine..."

 

It was only when he was sitting down at the Jedi's table that he got his mind working again and by then his stomach was kicking against his desire not to accept food from a Jedi.

 

What sat before him a hearty beef stew and warm roll with butter already on it. He needed food, and it looked and smelled SO good.

 

He reached out, one hand shaking to grasp the spoon. Yes, it might be drugged, but he had to eat something.

 

The first mouthful made him realize how starved he was, and he ate two bowls and three rolls before he was full.

 

He had over-indulged, he knew that, but it tasted so good and he was so very, very tired. He fell  asleep and dreamed that someone was rifling through his memories, helping him put them into order. It didn't feel like an intrusion. Not like it should have.

 

When he woke he felt... not really different but more... awake? no... he didn't really have a word for it. The baby rolled inside him.

 

He rubbed away the pain in his abdomen and rolled onto his other side.

 

The little one kicked lightly, and he sighed.

 

"Go to sleep." He told it.

 

The babe continued to move. "Stop. Sleep."

 

He held himself and rocked as its movements continued. They felt like cramps.

 

There was a knock.

 

He sat up. "...What is it?" Whoever it was didn't need his permission.

 

Luke came in. "I wasn't sure if you were awake yet, but breakfast is ready."

 

He looked at the way Hux was holding himself - it - and questioned, "Are you all right?"

 

"Fine." Luke raised a doubtful brow.

 

"Is the child bothering you?"

 

"It always "bothers" me." The Jedi frowned.

 

"Does it hurt?" He gently asked.

 

"... A little..." he admitted softly. "Come, lets get you to the medical wing, just to be safe."

 

The medical droids declared them normal pregnancy pains. They prescribed some mild painkillers.

 

Luke thanked them. "Would you like to go back to see another part of the Temple? The Archives and gardens are open to you."

 

He did need to explore. Perhaps he could find a place to stash supplies so he could make his escape.

 

  
"The Archives. I would like something to read." "Of course. This way."

 

Hux took in his surroundings as they walked. There were broad windows letting in light everywhere. His skin would be burnt if he stood to near them for too long.

 

The people around him, Jedi and not, seemed at ease. The Archives weren't as grand as the ones the old Temple had contained, but they were still an impressive sight.

 

The way the shelves were stacked... And that window above. Hux had found his exit.

 

"Is there anything in particular you'd like to read," Luke asked.

 

"Anything. I've been bored for so long..." He wasn't even sure how long it had been.

 

"Master Kira can show you to our fiction section." Kira was a Twi'lek who led him away to the collection of various fictional genres, and Hux gravitated towards the mystery section.

 

And there, he found a familiar face. Lieutenant Dopheld Mitaka was settled on a large and plush cushion shaped like an egg. He froze... It had been so long and it was so good to see his aide was alive...

 

He had his nose buried in some story and was totally oblivious to his surroundings. "Mitaka?" He looked up.

 

"General?" The young man smiled so broadly, but made no move to get up. He was in a flowing robe. "Is it you?"

Hux crossed the distance to his favorite person in the galaxy. "It is. And you? Are you well?"

"Better than well." Mitaka stood up, his robes falling over his front. "Nine months gone. And you? How long?"

 

Armitage's eyes nearly bugged out. "You... but... who?" he stammered, ignoring the last question.

 

"I fell in love with one of the Jedi here at the temple. Knight Costis. He was part of my de-programming process, and we fell in love."

 

"How... romantic..."

 

"And you?" Dopheld reached out and put a hand on his elbow and Armitage became convinced this was not his aide. Not the man he had relied on. He would never have touched him - knew his discomfort. "Who is it for you?" His smile was so wide and innocent.

 

"The father is not part of my process. It was... unwilling."

 

Dopheld's smile fell from his face. "Oh..."

Armitage rolled his shoulder and stepped back, taking Mitaka out of his personal space. He drew himself up straighter and gave him a severe look. "And you know better than to touch me, Lieutenant."

 

"I am not one of your soldiers anymore. I'm sorry if I overstepped, but I assumed you had already finished your own process."

 

"You assumed wrongly, both in this and that there would be a process. I have no intention of letting the Republic brainwash me, as they have clearly done to you." He turned away and walked stiffly, turning around a shelf before he let himself lean on it. ...he would live to regret saying that. The first thing his former aide would do would be to run - or waddle, he thought unkindly - back to his Knight Costis and inform him that his General intended to escape. He had given himself away. They would watch him more closely now.

 

Dopheld sighed. "I wish you luck, General," he said softly, even if he didn't believe for a moment that Armitage was close enough to hear him.

 

He looked up as a blonde Jedi passed. "Oh! Master Skywalker, how are you?"

 

"I am well, thank you, Dopheld. How are you and the little one?"

 

"Almost ready to pop. Costis is being fussy, so I came here to get some quiet." Dopheld dropped his voice slightly. "I saw... General Hux is here."

 

"Yes, we've only just started his process." "Oh. I upset him. He doesn't like to be touched, but I did. I assumed he was finished, and... the baby..." "It's all right, Dopheld. No one can blame you for making that kind of assumption.

 

"...Who did it, Master Skywalker? Will they be charged?" Mitaka questioned softly. "He always hated to be touched... I can't imagine what it's done to him to be assaulted."

 

"Han is investigating as we speak. They'll be found and punished, severely. I promise."

 

"Thank you." A flash of hidden fire went through the former lieutenant's eyes. "Thank you."

 

Luke smiled softly. "Give him time to adjust and cool down, and I'm sure you'll be good friends." Hux listened to it all eve as he selected a few books at random, only making sure they were random numbers in a series.

 

He turned and fled easily among the shelves to avoid being found out as an eavesdropper. "Good friends" he didn't have friends. Not anymore. He just had himself.

 

Luke finally found him. "Pick out some books?"

 

Hux glanced down at the covers. "Something about Sherlock Holmes."

 

"A good choice. ready to go back?" "If it involved a hot bath." "I'm sure we can make that happen," Luke smiled.

 

General Hux stretched out in the soaking tub and just let the heat take his aches, pains, and troubles away. He reviewed what he had learned - first, that he could rely on no one for help. Second, that there was a way out, but it was a bit of a hazardous climb. Third, where the speeders were kept... The child kicked.

 

"Not now." He sighed. "I know you're not to blame... but you're here and your monster father isn't..."

 

The babe kicked again and struggled to some new position. Armitage put a hand to his stomach and rocked himself through the pain of it. His first time as a mother - to a child he hated.

 

No, that wasn't fair. He hated the child's father, but since the father wasn't around he was directing his hate at the babe. "... I was you. Unplanned, unwanted."

 

There was a soft flutter - a little arm, and not a punch - and Armitage caressed his stomach. "...I can't leave you here in this soft-minded Republic. You'd grow up an outcast for my sake."

 

He gently pressed, helping the babe shift. "I need to be better... for you at least, little one. You don't deserve to grow up hated like I did."

 

...If he intended to get away from here with his child, he would have to do it soon. The physical exertion of climbing shelves, opening windows, possibly fighting if he needed to... He couldn't do that any later in his pregnancy. Reckless as it was, he estimated he had a week to plan, observe, and escape with himself intact. Any later and he would have to wait until it had been born.

 

He got out, had lunch that Luke left for him, then curled up with one of his novel. He might as well actually read these. He had missed it, to be honest.

 

Luke came back to find the General asleep in the living room.

 

He smiled and pulled a blanket over him and took the book off his face, making the page.

 

Then, he reached for the General's mind with the Force. It was easiest to start when the officers were asleep, try to start untangling them subconsciously before working with them when they were awake.

 

He didn't take anything but eased pain, sorrow, undid conditioning gently.

 

He stumbled on the memory accidentally. It was well hidden - in plain sight, tucked away and not easily found. But he did find it and as soon as he touched it...

 

He was pulled in to a scene of terror and revulsion.

 

It had taken five of them - four to hold him down and one extra. All five of them had taken turns as he thrashed violently and screamed, bit, head-butted, scratched, kicked, did everything in his power not to go willingly.

 

Luke nearly snarled. He had led Hux right past them yesterday, and the fifth was damn warden.

 

Beneath his fingers, his presence, Hux whimpered softly and jerked away, trying to curl himself up into a protective ball.

 

He soothed the General, wrapping the memory in a warm, protective feeling that it would never happen again.

 

This close to his mind, the General couldn't help but believe it. He relaxed slowly and his sleep deepened.

 

The Jedi withdrew and went to send messages to Han and Leia.

 

Han answered. "What is it, kid? I think I'm pretty close to whoever did this."

 

"I know who it was. I saw the memory, on accident, but I saw." He listed the named, and Han nodded, his face grim. "I'll bring 'em in." "Thanks, Han."

 

"We will press charges." Leia added. "This is serious abuse."

 

"They ain't gonna be loose for a long time." They cut the calls, and Luke sagged a little. "I'm so sorry you endured that, General," he said softly.

 

"And you think sifting through my mind while I sleep is better somehow?" The voice was unexpected, the words even less so.

 

He looked up. "I've done you no harm, and it makes the process easier. Most officers panicked when we tried while they were away. It can be... disconcerting when awake."

 

"That and you didn't think I would know." The General looked at Luke. "I lived in close proximity with Ren. I know what mental violation feels like."

 

"Would you rather be awake?"

 

"I would rather you didn't touch my mind."

 

"I'm afraid it's part of de-programming, so I can't do that. I apologize for seeing the memory, it was an accident, but it's allowed us to bring in your attackers. They'll be locked up for a long time for what they did."

 

"Such comfort." There was a deep sarcasm in his voice and he leaned away from Luke as the Jedi came into the room.

 

"This is to help you. I'm sorry it's invasive, but it must be done to undo what was done to you."

 

"Nothing was done to me." The General scoffed. "Was something 'done' to you to make you believe in the Republic?"

 

"Not until stormtroopers murdered my aunt and uncle looking for droids."

 

Hux was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "Everyone dies. It's the only real constant in life."

 

"No one should died burned to death when they committed no crime."

 

"No one should, but many have."

 

"It was the start of my hate for the Empire. Murdering Jawa then moisture farmers who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

 

"Perhaps you need to be de-programmed then." Hux was coldly amused. "Because it certainly seems that you're more brain-washed than I am."

 

"No. I see some good ideas in the Empire, the issue was with the man who ruled it. Well the *main* issue."

 

"Hmm." Hux looked around. "Your Republic is built on the idea that all these diverse species can put aside their differences to get along. But without an enemy to hold them together, how will you manage? I expect they've already started squabbling by now."

 

"No system is perfect, General."

 

Hux just smirked. He seemed to have claimed a victory in his labyrinthine mind.

 

Luke just shook his head and stepped away to make dinner.

Hux used his week well. He studied the rhythms of the Temple, even as more and more he found his mind was subtly changing. He had to get out of there, or he might not last until his child was born. Luke was so much better at this than Ren.

 

What scared him the most... was that it *didn't* scare him. He had to leave. He had no choice.

 

There was always an old harridan in the library, watching over things. Hux would have to be very careful to avoid her - she had sharp eyes. But the library was his closest exit to the speeder lot.

 

He was about to make his move when Luke caught him and delivered news. "Dopheld's child was born."

 

Not tonight then. "...Why should I care?" He turned away casually. "Is Mitaka all right?"

 

 

"Tired, but yes, and he's asked to see you, if you were willing."

 

Hux was silent for a long moment and one hand went to his abdomen. Luke had noticed he touched it more now than when he first came here.

 

"... Take me to him."

 

Luke led him to the medical wing. Dopheld was lying in a bed, a mid-sized human Jedi Knight nearby. Costis, doubtless. He looked tired, but happy.

 

He was cradling a baby and smiled when he saw the General. "Costis, would you leave us alone for a moment? Please?" "Are you sure, love?" "We'll be fine. Just for a few minutes." He sighed. "All right."

 

They were left alone - General and former Lieutenant - and Hux felt a surge of true fear. What was he doing? Why had he agreed to come?

 

"You can come closer you know. He doesn't bite. That'll come later I'm sure."

 

He clenched his fists. "...You know I never liked humor." But he took a few steps closer.

 

Mitaka sighed. "And how do you expect to raise a child without a sense of humor or compassion?"

 

"I seem to have turned out rather well." Hux looked down at the child's puckered and pink face.

 

"That's debatable. This is Sirac."

 

"Remind me why I ever liked you." He studied Mitaka's son, looking for something - he didn't know what.

 

"Because I didn't fawn over you or insult your intelligence." The baby opened big, baby blue eyes, and something in Hux melted.

 

He took too long to answer and knew Dopheld noticed. "No, it was because you were quiet and did your job."

 

"That too. ... Would you like to hold him? It'd be good practice."

 

"Fine." Hux agreed, holding out his arms.

 

He cradled the tiny body against his own swelling chest, and his resolve began to crumble even more.

 

He tried not to let his struggle show. Tried to stay cold, but he knew... If he didn't escape tomorrow night, he would never leave. The jaws of the trap were closing around him.

 

The newborn yawn and relaxed his tiny body against the redhead.

 

Hux handed the newborn back to Mitaka and went back to "his" room to spend a restless and conflicted night. He didn't dare sleep, he didn't want the Jedi to mess with his mind any more than they already had.

 

Luke, thankfully, let him be, but his own babe was restless.

 

"Shh..." Hux murmured to her, rubbing his stomach. "We'll be free soon." he thought gently at her. He didn't know where they would go, but he knew some remnant of the Order had escaped, and he would find them. They would have to spend quite some time rebuilding their strength.

 

But... then what? What would become of his child? Put into service?

 

No. He would raise her as his replacement. She would grind the Republic under her heels where he hadn't been able to. They would all see.

 

He would make them see.

 

He was used to going without sleep, sometimes for up to a week. He had trained himself rigorously. It was good to find those muscles still worked after three years in a single cell. He managed to escape detection on his way to the library. In a small, relatively abandoned section, he had stocked a few days worth of supplies behind a set of tall, but short books. Now, he just needed to get up.

 

That was the only hitch in his escape plan.

 

Carefully, he began to climb the shelves, constantly alert for them to creak, tip, or even shudder. They were bolted to the floor, but that might not mean much if the Republic was as incompetent here as it was in other places. He heard the soft footsteps of the librarian and froze, pulling himself as close to the books as he could.

 

He nearly held his breath as he waited. Was he about to fail?

 

She passed on by, a stack of books in her arms, and he almost wept in relief, continuing to climb up until he could pull himself over and onto the top. He paused there, holding his balance with care. ...he had made an error. The window was father from the shelves than he initially estimated.

 

He wasn't sure if he could jump that. If he came up short he could fall or land on his stomach. "Having second thoughts?"

 

He jumped and whirled. Standing at the other edge of the shelf was Luke Skywalker. He had thought he was asleep.

 

The Jedi didn't speak again. He just waited for Armitage to recover from the surprise.

 

...Stupid of him, really. With the same reflexes that had saved him from certain death on Kylo Ren's blade many times before, he swung the bag of supplies up and around and hurled them in an arc through the air at Luke's head. If he had had more time, perhaps he would have reconsidered the jump, but add in the fact that he was unburdened and he had been caught, and he had to take the risk. He missed and landed hard, his leg giving under him with a sickening crack.

 

The pain was instant and terrible, truly debilitating. When he tried to crawl to his feet, he cried out and fell back at once to the cold floor. He had failed, in every sense of the word. Even on a moral standpoint, his captor would see this attempt for what it was: The desperate attempt of a desperate man out of control. The antithesis of what he portrayed himself as. He had lost, and his own body – frail, weak as a slip of paper, useless – had betrayed him.

 

Luke was at his side in a moment, comming the medical wing for help.

 

"Get away from me!" Armitage shrieked as he tried to come closer, edging himself back on his hands, scrabbling like a crab with a missing limb.

 

The Jedi Master looked down at him and shook his head. "Fine, but stop moving. You're just going to make your leg worse."

 

The fall seemed to have jarred something loose inside of him. He felt very young and frail once more. A weak, bewildered child. He hated himself. Was this what the Jedi were doing to him? Were they trying to pull him back to when he had been weak? Afraid? Was this their goal. Well, they seemed to have succeeded. He tried to pull himself inward, but couldn't make his body cooperate.

 

Luke sat down as close as he would let him get. "Hold still." He held out a hand but didn't try to touch the redhead. "What are you doing?" "Make sure you didn't injury anything else, and checking the state of your daughter."

 

"It is a girl then. I thought so." Hux muttered. The break was bad. He could feel it. He might have also injured his tailbone and hip, ankle, the works. Strained and overstressed, but only the leg was broken.

 

Healers and medical droids arrived and carefully moved him onto a gurney and rushed him to the medical wing for treatment.

 

The only ones Hux could trust not to tamper further with his mind - already delicate, he could feel it - were the droids and even then he couldn't let them render him unconscious. So, he fought, struggled, and screamed whenever something that even looked like a drug came near him or one of the living healers. There was the wail of an infant from somewhere deeper in the medbay - Dopheld would still be confined there for testing.

 

His own child thrashed inside him until, mercifully, he passed out from exhaustion and pain.

 

When he woke, he was still mostly himself, though he didn't know for how much longer. He couldn't trust the oblivion of sleep or unconsciousness. He was helpless here, body and mind breaking and teetering on the edge. He had to protect what little he had left.

 

He looked over and paused. Luke were there, slumped in a chair, asleep. When he had he gotten there? Hux didn't feel different from when he tried to escape, other than the lingering pain. The Jedi hadn't done anymore with his mind. So... why was he here?

 

Possibly to make sure he didn't attempt something again. He tested his leg and found it immobilized inside its hard plastic shell - strapped down to the bed to keep him from moving.

 

He rubbed his stomach gently. Was she okay?

 

"She's fine. Disturbed and possibly more scared than she will ever be again, but physically fine."

 

He jumped and looked back over at Luke. The Master was awake and stretching. "You seem back with us this morning."

 

"Stay away from me." He couldn't leave the bed, but he could lean as far from Luke as possible.

 

The blond sighed. "Don't you think if I wanted to be like my nephew I would have by now?"

 

Armitage spat a filthy curse at him. "You already are! You've continually messed with my mind and pushed me to the brink! I would rather be a POW for the rest of my life than be manipulated this way!"

 

"You realize then you would lose everything, including your daughter. I am trying to help you, dammit!"

 

"Great kriffing job!" Hux was the master of sarcasm in all forms and that included slow, sarcastic applause.

 

"Has anyone ever told you that you're an annoying smart ass?"

 

Luke was getting nowhere fast with this. None of the other officers had given this much resistance. He needed to get expert help. Time to visit an expert in psychology. Dr. Kaschka had long braids and deep-set eyes, but he was a brilliant reader of people.

 

Kaschka was treated with the same suspicion and outright hostility that Luke was from Armitage - that all living beings were at the moment. He was run out of the hospital room and behind the two way mirror in minutes, but he didn't give up. "Well, it's clear he doesn't trust doctors or Jedi." He commented as they looked into the hospital room. "Is there anyone he does trust?"

 

"I doubt it. Perhaps Dopheld, but even that's a stretch."

 

"Would this Dopheld be up to seeing him at the moment?" Kaschka hummed.

 

"I can ask, but he recently had a child so that's as much in the air."

 

"Please, do ask. I cannot work without data on the patient."

 

Luke nodded and went to see Costis and Dopheld.

 

"Is Armitage all right?" Dopheld questioned at once. "We could hear him... last night."

 

Luke quickly brought them up to speed. "I'll try to talk to him, but... I don't know if it will do any good."

 

"Doctor Kaschka says he needs more data. I don't think "good" is necessarily the object right now."

 

 

All right." "Dopheld, you don't have to." "I want to, Costis."

 

Dopheld looked at Master Skywalker. "I want to help. Take me to him."

 

Luke nodded. Hux looked up when Mitaka entered his room.

 

Perhaps because he knew his former aide was not a Force user, he let him enter without shouting at him, and even come close. "What do you want?"

 

"To talk and see you." He eyed the other man's leg. "You did a number on yourself didn't you?"

 

Armitage crossed his arms. "At least I tried." He spoke venemously.

 

"I was tired." "Of what?" "Living in fear of my superiors, of Kylo Ren. Of being decided that I had fulfilled my purpose and being cast aside or killed, like others had been. I didn't want to live like that anymore. As Ren's punching bag... or yours." "I never struck-" "Not physically, but whenever something in your day when wrong who did you take it out on?"

 

"So you just volunteered for this lovely little program to erase who you are and everything you've ever worked for in your life. Color me unsurprised."

 

"I am still me, but now I don't live in fear. I don't carry a torch for a cause that never cared about the men and women who died for it

 

Armitage snorted. "You think the Rebellion cares for the men and women who died for it?" He began to laugh uproariously, genuinely, with just a hint of savage mockery.

 

Kaschka hummed beside Luke. "...Tell me something, Master Skywalker. What does your program do exactly? How do you de-program these men and women?"

 

"We use the Force to re-write the programming directly - to free them from its constraints-"

Kaschka recoiled from the Jedi. "You are doing WHAT?!"

 

"We use the Force to re-write their minds, in a sense. Remove or undo conditioning, trying to soften the negative emotions and experiences, without removing their core personality."

 

Kaschka's horror was clear. "When this program was introduced, the psychiatric council was under the impression that this would include more talking and less enforced personality change."

 

"The only way to undo this level of brainwashing is in such a way."

 

"You mean the only way to undo it quickly. The only way to undo it and claim such a glorious triumph for the Republic." There was a smattering of outright disgust in his voice. "It will truly be a media coup when Armitage Hux himself renounces violence. Of course, by then he'll probably also be permanently incontinent and his brilliant mind will be destroyed, but what does that matter in the grand scheme?" Kaschka looked back at Armitage. "How does this 're-writing work then? What do you tell them to do?"

Luke explained how they used the person's repressed memories of homes and families to reawaken the Officer's morality and help them transition away from the cold, rigid mindset of the Order.

 

"We more nudge them in the right direction quicker than just talking will do, but it has the same effect without damaging the mind, we soothe pain and fear to keep the process from doing damage."

 

Kaschka raised an eyebrow. "It seems to be working very well. ...Has it occurred to you that you might be failing because Armitage Hux has no past experiences as a moral person in a loving family?"

 

"I have, so I've been working to soothe the memories rather, and urge him towards the right path, not force him onto it."

 

Kaschka sighed through his nose. "...Sometimes, not even the finest therapists can save every patient. Often, they have to want to be saved. You are walking in dangerous territory, Master Skywalker. You are trying to re-write someone without a template, and your subject is rebelling."

 

"What do you suggest I do?"

 

"Perhaps set your bar lower. Strike a deal. I doubt he wants to be a prisoner in a cell forever. In exchange for good behavior, he can live and stay here at the Jedi Temple. I can't imagine a more secure place."

 

"... Very well."

 

"If he does not agree to such a bargain, if he continues to attempt escape... And you resort to returning to these methods of yours... I would advise you be prepared to face the consequences of those actions. The human mind is a delicate instrument, and you run very close to permanent damage."

 

"I'll be careful. Thank you for your advice, it's very much appreciated."

 

Kaschka nodded, folding his arms and staring at the Jedi. "...You have had good intentions throughout this. And you have guided all but one to becoming well-adjusted citizens once more. That does deserve commendation. But I will not be reccommending your techniques be used on others. Understood?"

 

"Of course."

 

Dopheld raced from the room in tears and Armitage collapsed back on his medical berth - spleen quite spent, and child thrashing inside of him.

 

Luke paused to comfort the distraught new mother then stepped back into Hux's room. "A fine way to treat someone who cares about you."

 

"Stay away from me." The General demanded in response.

 

"I'm not going to touch you." Luke tried to assure him. "Or your mind. It's clear it's not working."

There was a ragged laugh. "I could have told you that from the start."

 

"I'm here with a deal, so to speak." Armitage scoffed.

 

"A deal? If you wanted, you could just rip into me and make me into anything you wanted."

 

"Which only cause damage and leave you mentally destroyed forever. That's not my goal."

 

Hux glared at him. "What do you want then?"

 

"To help you. It's all I've wanted. You can stay at the Temple, safe and secure, under my protection, free to explore the Temple and take advantage of what it offers, provided you cooperate and don't going trying to run off again. That will only land you back in a cell and your daughter taken away and put up for adoption when she's born."

 

"My daughter? In one of your Republic orphanages?" Hux sat up straight as if Luke had stabbed him. "Absolutely not."

 

"Then let me help you.""

 

Hux gave him a singularly suspicious glare.

 

"Get some rest and think on it. I'll come back later."

 

Hux rested back carefully against the bed. His head was heavy and his very bones felt tired - a result of the day's excitement, perhaps. But he couldn't afford to sleep. Not when he hated the very idea of the Jedi poking into his mind. He had to think. Was this "deal" genuine?

 

He daughter kicked. He couldn't afford to not take it. He couldn't lose her.

 

By the time his leg was healed, he would be too far gone to escape on his own without risking her.

 

He sighed. "I suppose we're stuck here, little girl."

 

She rolled gently and rested against his spine.

 

He sighed and finally let himself rest. He needed it, and so did she.

 

He was ever so graciously allowed to return to his prison in the Jedi Master's quarters as soon as the heavy, plastic tube was removed from his leg.

 

His leg was mostly healed, but he still had to take it easy for a while. Luke had lunch waiting for him on arrival.

 

He warily regarded the Jedi as he approached the table. He didn't trust this bargain. The Jedi gained nothing from it.

 

"Your attackers were sentenced today." "What did they get? A fine?" he scoffed.

 

"Thirty years in prison a piece." Luke replied, handing Hux a datapad. "No parole."

 

"... What?" He looked down at the datapad in disbelief.

 

It said so, plain as day, right below the pictures of the five men.

 

"You... actually punished them?" "Of course we did!"

 

"But..." Hux muttered something beneath his breath.

 

"But what?"

 

"But I'm the enemy."

 

"Not anymore, and even if you were it wouldn't matter. Assault and rape are illegal and wrong, end of story."

 

Hux pushed the datapad away. "...It doesn't undo what they did."

 

"No it doesn't, but it ensures they can't do it again to anyone else and have been punished for it."

 

"It would be even more certain if they were dead."

 

"We don't do that for anything but murder."

 

"More's the pity." Hux stood. "Murder is a cleaner crime."

 

"But then you wouldn't be alive and have the chance to change and raise your little girl."

 

"And you think they deserve that chance?" The General turned on him. "...You think me a hypocrite, but I assure you it's not the case. The dead do not suffer. The living suffer. The dead sleep."

 

"Keep in mind they'll all be in their late 60s and 70s when they get out, and I think YOU deserve the chance. it's why we're doing the reprograming."

 

"Stay away from me." The phrase was jerked out of him by the mere mention of the process he was supposedly undergoing.

 

Luke sighed. "I already told you I wasn't going to keep doing that anymore. Calm down and eat something. You and the baby need it."

 

Hux slowly approached the table and sat, pulling a plate towards himself. He ate cautiously, then ravenously.

 

"You can't leave the Temple without an escort, but we can easily arrange one to take you shopping for clothes or baby items if you'd like." "Afraid I'll run off?" "Upset I'm not naive enough to trust you?" Luke shot back.

 

"It would make things easier if you were."

 

"Well no one said this would be easy."

 

"...What do you get out of this?" Hux spat. "Wouldn't it be easier to lock me up somewhere I wouldn't escape from?"

 

"Maybe, but it would be a waste of your mind, skills, and just a person in general. I think you can be more than you are, that you deserve a second chance, a chance to be free of the First Order. What do I get out of this? Nothing, but it's in my nature to help people. That's enough for me." He was so different from anyone Armitage had ever known.

 

"The Order... Is my life. Is my purpose. My sole reason for existence." Hux replied. "Take it away and I am nothing."

 

"Nothing has the chance to become something."

 

"Not without reason."

 

Luke smiled and nodded to Hux's swelling middle. "I'm sure someone will be more than happy to give you reason."

 

One pale hand went to his body. "Don't get any ideas. The only reason I'm keeping her is that I'll need a successor. Someone has to keep the Order alive."

 

"Uh-huh."

 

The General flushed and stalked off. "I'm tired. Don't come near me. I'll know."

 

"Very well." He went to his room and sank into the mattress.

 

"Someone has to keep the Order alive." He murmured to her.

 

He decided, however, he would do it differently than his father had for him. He would work the Order in slowly for her. "I want you to have a childhood, little girl. The one I never got." She hiccuped inside him. "Well excuse you."

 

She grew. It seemed she was heavier every morning when he rose from his bed. He felt his body changing. It didn't disgust him, but he wasn't comfortable with it.

 

His chest was swollen and sore. He didn't tell Luke, but the Jedi seemed to pick up on and often left th net open to pages with tips to handle the aches and pains of pregnancy. He also took Hux out for maternity clothes and baby clothes, either him or an escort of either a Jedi or a couple friendly Temple Guards. He didn't mind the Guards quite as much. At least they didn't talk with Jedi riddles like one of the Knights who had gone with him had. It was the one good thing about Luke, he supposed, he usually just talked normally to the General, and if he didn't would explain what he meant if Hux didn't figure it out.

 

Hux still suspected the Jedi of tampering with his mind. On occasion, he would wake up from strange dreams, wet and wanting, shivering with the full force of desire. And not every dream was about sex. Some of them were simply about the life he could have if he could just let go...

 

Part of him didn't want to let go, but another part.... another part, now that he was being cared for and the people around him were kind and friendly, found that he didn't miss life in the Order.

 

Which was not to say he didn't miss some things. He missed being in command, writing his own destiny. He missed having the loyalty of millions at his beck and call. He missed the way being part of something bigger had made him felt.

 

His daughter stretched as best she could is increasingly cramped accomidations.

 

Hux panted softly among the sheets and rolled away from the damp patch where he had been lying. "Shh..." He murmured to her. "All will be well."

 

He decided to make himself some tea. Perhaps it would help him relax. He stepped out and found an exhausted looking Luke reading something on his datapad.

 

He narrowed his eyes at the Jedi Knight. "What are you doing up at this hour?"

 

He looked up and sighed. "Reviewing a missing Leia's bugging me to go on." He rubbed his eyes. "Trust me I'd much rather be sleeping."

 

Hux laughed harshly. "You're the grandmaster of an order of mystics. You don't go on missions. That's why you have these knights."

 

"Even the grandmaster can be called away. Rarely, but it happens. Even Yoda went on missions, especially during the Clone Wars. Anyway, even if I don't go, I'm still reviewing this so I can make sure I know exactly what I'm sending someone else into."

 

It still seemed a rather odd time for administrative work. Armitage glided to the kitchen and prepared himself a cup of hot tea.

 

Though he supposed it could be just a night of having trouble sleeping in Luke's case. Perhaps reading was his attempt to quiet his mind so he could sleep.

 

The General rolled up his nightshirt, exposing his six-month belly to the cool air. The trapped sweat began to cool and he closed his eyes briefly in relief before taking his tea and stepping out of the kitchen, one hand on his belly.

 

"You all right?" Luke asked. "Just warm." The Jedi nodded. "If you like we can get you a fan for in your room, if you think it would help."

 

"Perhaps it would." The General leaned back against the couch and then settled there.

"Something is bothering you."

 

"Reading minds?" "No, facial expressions. That's not as hard as you might think," Luke teased. Hux nearly stuck his tongue out at him.

 

"What is it then? Is she restless?"

 

"Is she ever not." The Jedi chuckled. "Little whirlwind is she?"

 

"She's energetic." Armitage rested a hand against his belly.

 

"If she's keeping you up I can help soothe her so she'll sleep and let you sleep. Nothing about her would be changed, it's just a sleep technique where the mind is quieted and allows for rest. It works wonders in Creche with the Younglings."

 

"I don't think it will help as much as you believe." The real reason he was awake was something darker, deeper.

 

"Well if you want to talk about it I'll listen, or there are mind healers. Don't take that wrong, they can also just lend an ear and offer advice without anything else, as well their abilities. They're the best to talk to without it going any further than to them then back to you if you ask for advice."

 

"Perhaps some other time."

 

Luke nodded, and they feel into a rather comfortable silence.

 

Slowly, General Hux found himself falling asleep once more.

He was dressed in white robes. Gold embroidery glimmered from the cuffs. All around him was filled with light and the sound of soft laughter met his ears. He set a hand on himself and found his abdomen swelling. But something in his mind told him it was not his daughter. No, his daughter... was running ahead of him, just out of reach.

 

Luke's gentle laughter was just ahead, and the faceless figure of his daughter was caught up in his arms, squealing with laughter.

 

He found himself rushing forwards, arms outstretched, wanting to join them, be enfolded to them. His own voice - softer and kinder than he had ever heard it - lent his mirth to the sounds they made.

 

He was embraced to them, then woke with a start as he was lain in his bed. Luke's hands pulled a soft, cool sheet over him, and through his lashes he watched the Jedi quietly exit his room.

 

He wanted to believe the dreams were the Jedi's fault, but he knew what mental manipulation felt like - knew it intimately. There was no lingering confusion or buzzing in his mind.

 

Instead Luke had simply carried him to bed, made sure he was comfortable, and then left. Not a touch to his mind.

 

That meant the dreams were coming from within - from him.

 

He buried his face in his pillow. His deepest desire, but... what could he do? How could he let go?

 

The Order was his life, his identity, his code.

 

The Order... was dying. Those who had escaped were being found and rounded up. Therapists were working with them, and Hux knew the Order was finished. There were just too few still free. His daughter rolled in her own sleep, and he cupped her. He still had her, a new purpose, he supposed. He could give her the life he had never had, the childhood he had been denied.

 

...This place had made him soft. He felt tears beading up in his eyes, and was ashamed of himself.

 

MItaka came to visit him the next day with sweet little Sirac in tow. The baby babbled happily to Hux and lightly patted his stomach, giggling up at the General.

 

Hux tolerated the patting from the child and kept his eyes low today, not speaking much.

 

"Are you all right? I can put Sirac on the floor with his toys if he's bothering you." "He's not hurting me or her. Can he..." "Sense her? Probably, at least enough to know something is there."

 

Dopheld squinted a little at his former General. "Something is bothering you."

 

"Just strange dreams." "Those are fun. Vivid?" "Very." "Don't worry, it's from the hormone change. They go away eventually." Sirac held up little arms to Hux, who, on a whim, tickled his armpits.

 

The baby giggled in surprise and squeezed his little arms back down over the vulnerable skin.,

 

"Oh, did he get you?" Mitaka cooed. "Ticklish are you, little soldier?"

 

A little soldier... If they were on a starship, he might have been glad to hear Dopheld's son called that. Now it just made him sick.

 

"Little soldier? Hah, more like little snuggler," his former aid said. Grateful for the save, Hux reached down and lifted Sirac to his feet, holding his hands. "Are you a snuggler?"

 

Sirac giggled and reached for Dopheld.

 

His mother picked him up and kissed his cheek. "He's the snuggle champ, aren't you, baby?"

 

Sirac cuddled into his Mother and relaxed.

Armitage felt his own daughter move suddenly.

 

He grunted at the suddeness. "Well excuse me for giving someone else attention for five seconds."

 

She continued to flail for a few moments more, then settled.

 

He sighed and rubbed his stomach.

 

"How long has it been now?" Dopheld questioned.

 

"Almost time. She's getting impatient." Armitage put his hands on his stomach and groaned softly. "...I don't know if I can do this."

 

"I thought the same, but when Saric was handed to me and I saw him for the first time... I had never loved anything more. I knew then and there I'd do anything for him. I was still scared, sure, but I wasn't going to let it stop me. He was my baby, and I was going to take care of him no matter what."

 

"I am not you." Hux murmured, reminding Dopheld, unnecessarily.

 

"No, but you're going to be a mother. You'll see, when she's here. No one can tell you how to be one, it's something you learn, like anything else new in life. It's terrifying, but honestly I've never felt more accomplished or gratified in anything else. It's a lifelong career, but a worthwhile one."

 

"Given that it's the only one I'll be allowed to pursue from now on, it had better be." He leaned back on the sofa.

 

"Well there are things you can do around the Temple if you look or ask. I've been taking Saric and doing some work in the Archives helping sort and cataloge information as it comes in and updates."

 

It turned his stomach how pedestrian his life was going to be. Without the Order, there was no channel for his true abilities.

 

He was still thinking on it when Luke returned.

 

"How did it go?" He asked without really caring about the answer.

 

"Well no one died, so good. We got the miners worked out, so Hirath is back on track. How have you been?"

 

Hux just grunted in acknowledgment, eyes far away.

 

Luke frowned. "Is something wrong?"

 

"Which is worse. To be killed moments before total victory or to live in complete defeat?" The former General asked, his shirt rolled up over his belly - as was habit now.

 

 

"I suppose it depends on the nature of the situation."

 

"I should think my words explain the situation perfectly enough."

 

"Is there anything I can do to make this better for you?"

 

"I am a soldier. I cannot ply my trade, because I've been captured, taken by an enemy that wouldn't give me the dignity of the firing squad at the very least. So, I've been sentenced to live my life, day by day, without purpose. What could you possibly do, Master Skywalker, to make that better?"

 

Luke thought for a moment. "How about helping oversee Temple Guard training? That might be more your speed than something like Dopheld does in the Archives."

 

It might fill the time at least. "I won't be able to start until after she comes."

 

"You can still watch and give advice, speak with the other instructors and give your knowledge. I know it's not exactly military like you're used to, but perhaps it's a step in that direction. The First Order maybe gone, Armitage, but that doesn't mean you should wallow in boredom and inactivity. All you ever have to do is ask if there's something along you skill set you can do. We'll find something. We don't have to stay enemies. We don't want to be your enemy anymore, and we would certainly welcome your skills."

 

Hux scoffed. "...I've overheard you talking about your deprogramming... Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps there was no evil man, manipulating me into becoming who I am? That perhaps it really is my choices and actions that dictated my loyalty to the Order? That I gave of myself wholly and willingly? Given that, why would I be anything but your enemy?"

 

"Because you have the chance to be something else. You were never given that chance before. Your own file in the First Order database was that you were groomed for this from birth."

 

"That's a coward's argument. There are always choices, chances. I took none of them because I loved the Order. I still do."

 

Luke sat down beside him. "May I see some of your memories?" He suggested. "I wouldn't change anything, I just want to look, to show you something."

 

"You won't change anything?" "No. Looking at memories changes nothing, just brings them to forefront of one's mind."

 

Armitage rocked his head from side to side. Briefly, he considers the defensive command he had used more and more sparingly of late, but shrugged. If this was what it took to prove his point... "Very well."

 

The Jedi gently touched his temple. His fingers were warm, calloused, but gentle, as if Hux was made of the finest glass.

 

He's sitting, playing with a toy, in his childhood room. His Father's step outside. "Armitage?"

"Father!" He cried and rushed to the man. "I love you."

Brendol Hux bent and took him in his arms, studying him. "You're very orderly today. A little too eager, but not as chaotic as last time I came home. Remember, we never run unless we need to. Walk, sedately. It gives you time to think."

"He never did say, 'I love you' back, did he?" Luke questioned suddenly.

 

"What?" "He never told you he loved you back. Instead he gave you training, training beyond a child of that age. Even a Youngling is not trained in such a way. There was no affection when he picked you up, only calculating how best to continue your training."

 

"My Father... loved orderly things." Hux replied, picking up the toy - a doll and closing his hand around it. The memory changed.

"I love my office." Brendol told Armitage. "When it is neat, not a paper out of place. I can walk in and I know where everything is. I have everything I need to hand and it's all neatly ordered. Don't you agree, Armitage?"

 

"Yes, Father," the child said, even if he didn't quite understand everything he had just been told.

 

"Make yourself a reflection of this room, Armitage. Both in your mind, and outside of it. The best rulers are organized, orderly minds. Remember that."

 

"He gave lessons beyond any child your age and still expected you to understand and follow them. Lessons even adults struggle with at times to accomplish."

 

"He had high expectations. Expectations he knew I could meet." Armitage snapped as he watched his young self run a hand over the orderly books.

 

"Yet you couldn't. Not for several years."

 

"I did, though. In time, I did. I surpassed them." He clenched a fist and they were at the Academy. Armitage, a young teenager now, walked past the two of them - vigorous stride measured and careful - back straight, not a hair on his blazing head out of place. He had a datapad under one arm, a training blaster and baton at his hip. The model student.

 

"Yes, yet your life had becoming nothing more than living that training. No friends, just commanders and subordinates. Peers, but not friends. Orderly but alone."

 

"That's where you're wrong." Armitage gave him a bitter smile and a boy - brown hair with sable highlights - came racing over to his young self.

"Mitty!" He smiled when he reached Armitage's side. "How'd it go?"

"I trounced them, of course." Armitage stiffly smiled at his friend, touching his baton. "And you?"

"I studied the passage you showed me. I think I can pass the tests now." He scratched the back of his neck. "The magnetics thing is still odd... Can you show me again?"

Armitage sighed. "Of course. I'll come to your room tonight. I have to go now."

 

"Sure, thanks again, Mitty. See you tonight."

 

That night, they sat on his bed and studied together. "There, you see? Simple, Jungy." Armitage put down his stylus and stood up. "I have to go to bed."

"Wait." Jungy told him before he could leave. "Not yet. Look, I have something to tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone else."

 

 

"What?" "Promise." He nodded. "All right. I promise."

 

"My dad's coming." Jungy told the other boy. "He's coming here, tomorrow night, and he's going to take me away with him. I'm going home! And... I want you to come with me."

 

He stared at his friend. "What?! You're leaving?" "Yes, and I want you to come with."

 

"But... But the Academy, the Order..."

"Forget it! We can be free!" Jungy replied, eyes bright and wide with joy.

"Free..." The word meant nothing to him. "I have... I have to think about it..."

 

"Okay. He'll be here tomorrow night. Come to my room if you want to come with."

 

Armitage nodded and left, his thoughts in a rampage. Jungy was his only friend in the Academy - the rest were afraid of him, or of his Father. How could he leave?

"I was a pubescent teen." Armitage folded his arms. "A child. Grappling with my first resistance to the Order. Of course, I went to my Father."

 

"And how did that end for your friend?" "He died in an accident." "You're so sure of that, are you?"

 

Armitage clenched one fist again. "His father never came for him. I walked him out to where they were supposed to meet, but he never showed up. Eventually, we walked back and we were severely punished for breaking curfew. In my whole life, I can't remember having a worse beating. Eventually, things went back to normal." They fast-forwarded to a sparring session with the training batons - electrified tips designed to incapacitate anyone hit with them. Armitage and Jungy were facing off in the center. It was a short match, Armitage took Jungy easily, and the other boy fell to the floor.

"Is that all you've got?" Armitage questioned mockingly as Jungy began to twitch on the floor. "...Jungy?"

 

His friend made a horrible gasping, choking sound as he tried to get air as his body sized. "Jungy!"

 

The medics came too late. "He died of heart failure. My baton was inspected - water damage had caused two of the wires to touch. An accident." They watched as Jungy was lowered into a kiln and cremated. Brendol and Armitage were there, standing together as the body burned.

 

"So sure." Armitage bowed his head but did not cry, though tears burned his eyes.

 

Brendol took Armitage's baton off his own belt and handed it back. "Don't let yourself become disordered over an accident." He patted his son's shoulder. "And don't spend too long grieving for a boy with a traitor's heart. Don't forget, he was ready to leave everything he swore to uphold behind. Learn from his example, and put yourself in order." Brendol turned and walked up the stairs.

 

Armitage looked down at his baton - at the weapon that had killed his friend - and broke it open. He examined it all over for the damage supposedly inflicted, but he couldn't find it. Such a small thing. So small he couldn't see it, but it had taken his best, his only friend. Even if he was a traitor.

Armitage's adult self knelt beside the frozen image of the open baton and poked around inside. "He was a traitor, but he was my friend. I was shocked when my Father told me he would take care of it. That I wasn't to go, but I could say goodbye at the ship when Jungy left. He said we didn't need weak-hearted boys. That it wouldn't matter."

 

He stared at the baton. "The power conductor... it isn't damaged, but... it's different. The color... it's off. I didn't notice it then, I wasn't looking, but it... it's not the one I original had in there." Batons were built by their users so they would know the ins and outs of their weapon. His father had asked to see his baton before Jungy had died. He... he had changed it, causing it to deliver a fatal shock.

 

"Was he teaching you a lesson?" There was a slightly mocking edge to the Jedi's words. "Just in your best interests?"

 

"He... he murdered Jungy..."

  
"Oh, but he had a traitor's heart, so why does it matter? The Order doesn't need boys like that."

 

"Stop it!" "Does it matter to you, or do you believe as he did?" Luke pressed. "Of course it matters!" "Why?"

 

"Because he was my friend!" Armitage lashed out behind him. "Because I did everything I was supposed to - and all I wanted was not to lose him. Because I loved him. It. MATTERS!"

 

"Your father had you so deep in the Order you couldn't even leave with the one you loved. You couldn't understand the concept of freedom, and that's exactly what your father's goal was."

 

"Freedom... Death, you mean. Jungy's Father tried to fly in on a barge. The orbital defenses picked up his ship. He was shot down. If, by some miracle, he had made it in, he wouldn't have made it out. All three of us would have died regardless - is that freedom?"

 

"You didn't know that then, though, did you?" Luke knelt beside him and cupped his chin. "You were trapped in a cage without bars, and that was why you didn't even consider leaving. Why you went to your Father. He made you prisioner, but in a way you felt you were choosing to stay. In reality he made it so you couldn't leave." Do you still believe that everything you ever did was because you loved the Order?"

 

Armitage was silent, and Luke drew them out.

 

The former General had sunk into a depression. Into the darkest pit of his own, personal hell.

 

Luke stayed with him, making sure he took care of himself, at least on autopilot. He had to come to terms by himself now, but whenever the baby kicked it seemed to help at least for a short time.

 

Luke was woken in the middle of the night by a deep groan from the General's bedroom.

 

Worried, he jumped at once and rushed to his room. "Armitage?" he said as he came in.

 

The General was rocking on the bed, holding himself. He was sitting in an expanding pool of wet, soaking into his sheets.

 

Luke darted to his side. "Armitage! Is it time?"

 

Thin fingers dug into his arms. "I don't want this. I never had a mother, I don't know how to be one - Oh, Force." He groaned again and dropped his head.

 

The Jedi reached around and rubbed his lower back, which helped a bit. "Easy, you can do this." Luke picked him up once the contraction had passed and hurried out to take him to the medical wing. "You're going to be all right. We can get you into parenting classes, talk with other mothers, whatever you need, all right?"

 

The General heaved slightly as the next contraction passed. "...Hurry."

 

Luke reached out with the Force to see how close the baby was. They weren't going to make it. He ducked into a private meditation room and gently lay Hux on the mat then sent a message to the medical wing. Armitage cried out, and Luke hurried to get his pants off him then pulled a folded mat over to be a maskeshift pillow and help prop the man up a bit.

 

"How long have the contractions been coming?" He asked.

"I don't know... A long time."

 

"Why didn't you wake me?"

 

"I was afraid. I didn't want it to be happening." Hux bit out.

 

Luke checked with the Force again and gently spread Armitage's legs. "Well it happening, and now you need to push."

 

The General clenched his fists with the effort, his whole body drawing taut as a bowstring.

 

"Good. Good, I can see the head. She's coming. Push with the contractions, that'll help."

 

Armitage was strong and every push was powerful. He began to time them better with each contraction.

 

"Here comes the head. Big push, come on." It burned horrifically as he pushed this time.

 

He banged his head back against the mat-pillow and shrieked at the top of his voice.

 

Luke reached up and took his hand, letting him squeeze it. "You can do this! Push! Her head's coming!"

 

She slid into his hands a little further and her head was free of Hux's body.

 

"That's it! Breathe." Luke quickly pulled off his pajama shirt as Hux pushed again, trying to free her shoulders.

 

The medics arrived late - as always - and Luke was holding her, drying her off by the time they came.

 

He let the medics take over, and Armitage was startled when his daughter, tiny and squirming in Luke's shirt, was laid on his chest.

 

He looked up at her, craning his neck to see. "...Hello..." He murmured.

 

She gave a little sound and opened baby blue eyes to meet his own.

 

He gently lifted a trembling hand and cupped her soft, damp head.

 

He didn't notice as he was brought to the medical wing, but he did notice when a nurse tried to take his daughter to clean, weigh, and dress her.

 

"What...? No!" He hissed when she tried to lift her away.

 

"Please calm down, sir, she needs to be weighed, cleaned up, and dressed. I'll bring her back shortly."

 

He let her take his daughter, looking after them all the way.

 

"They'll bring her back," Luke reassured him.

 

The Jedi reached out and wiped sweat from his forehead. He was a mess - of course he was - but there was a hint of something ethereal as well.

 

"You're glowing."

 

"Am I? It feels as if I've been run over by a sandcrawler."

 

Luke chuckled. "I'm sure it does. You did well, and yes you're glowing." The baby was brought back, and Luke helped him sit up a bit more. "What are you going to name her?" He looked down at his daughter now clean and swaddled. "... Nia."

 

"Does it mean something?"

 

"It means purpose, and I always thought it was a pretty name."

 

"Purpose. I'm glad." Luke neatened his hair with one hand. "Do you want to be alone or should I stay?"

 

"... Stay." He nodded. "Then I will." He pulled a chair as another nurse came in.

 

Hux was gently wiped down and then his daughter laid in his arms, clean and dry.

 

She left then came back with a car of bottles, water, and formula. "All right, time to show you to get this little sweetpea fed. Don't worry, it's super easy, so no sweat." At least she seemed nice.

 

Hux opened his shirt with careful hands. "...I'd like to try this."

 

"You're not exactly built for that, dear. This will be much easier for you," she said. She was a middle-aged woman. He could understand it might be more difficult for him than a woman, but he had... developed.

 

"I know, but I'd like to try. If I run out, I can give her the bottle."

 

"Formula is-" "Are you deaf," Luke suddenly interjected. "I beg your pardon, Master Jedi?" "No, kindly bring in the lactation consultant to actually help Armitage the way he is asking to be helped. Now."

 

Armitage shot a glance at Luke. "It's surely not so difficult as all that, is it?" He gently raised her to his breast and offered Nia the nipple. "Let's see if we can get the hang of this, baby."

 

As he did so the nurse walked off in a huff. She rooted for a few moments, and he gently guided her head until he felt her latch. She sucked, and for a moment he was afraid he hadn't actually done it right. "Hello," said a new nurse, "Oh, you might not need my help quite so much." "Nothing's happening." She came to the bedside. "All right, talk me through how the latch feels, hun, and we'll get this figured out?" She was bright and cheerful, and Hux found he rather liked her already. There was something calming about her.

 

"She's suckling... But I don't feel anything coming out." Hux explained.

 

"Just give it a moment. The let down doesn't happen right away. If she isn't getting anything in about two minutes she might not be properly latched, and we'll see about adjusting her latch."

 

Hux gently stroked Nia's back. "...She's determined."

 

She began swallowing differently, and the nurse smiled. "There we go, She's getting it now. Some moms don't feel the let down, but you'll know she's getting it when her swallowing changes like that."

 

Armitage cooed to her. "Are you eating, little girl?"

 

Luke smiled as he watched the redhead with his daughter. It was nice to see after his depression.

 

Hux fell asleep with her still latched to his chest. Luke gently kept Nia at her Mother's nipple until she released and he gently coaxed her off and into his arms to sleep herself.

 

He burped her then let her drift off.

 

Hux woke to find Nia laying in a bastinet beside his bed. He turned over and looked down at her sleeping face, dipping one hand into it to stroke her gently.

 

"Sleep well?" Luke asked as he came in with a tray of food for the new mother.

  
"Fairly." Armitage lifted Nia to his breast and held her gently.

 

The newborn squirmed a little then relaxed in her mother's arms.

 

The General laid back. "...Good morning, beautiful."

 

 

Sleepy baby blue eyes blinked open and gazed up at him.

 

Armitage leaned down and nuzzled his daughter, pressing kisses to her face.

 

Luke smiled softly as he watched. The General would be a fine mother.

 

The General pulled back and tears began streaming down his cheeks. After several long moments, he composed himself. "...I want to give her up. Call a social worker. I can't keep her."

 

"What makes you say that?" Luke asked.

  
"I never intended to keep her." He stared up at the ceiling, gaze fixed. "I don't want her."

 

"Because after the tears you just cried and the love you've shown her, the love I sense, I would absolutely believe such a lie."

 

"...If you can sense all that, then you should know why I can't keep her." He began to shake. "What kind of life can I give her? She's the daughter of a war criminal. A monster. At least if she goes now, she'll have some kind of chance. She won't have to bear my name. ...Call someone. I can't keep her."

 

"I thought you were going to work at making your name mean something else, something better. If not you then her. Your name will never mean anything else if you don't work for it. You are not a monster, the ones who brainwashed you, manipulated you are the monsters."

 

"But I pulled the trigger. I gave the orders. Do you really think it matters, Master Skywalker, who gave me them? I enacted them. I had a choice, and I made it. And anything I could do now... It won't erase it. My name will be stained forever, no matter what I do. She can't share that. She's innocent. I can't keep her."

 

"Anakin Skywalker." He looked up. "What?" "Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader. Bane of the Jedi. The galaxy knows his name, his sins, every murder, every known name that was snuffed out at his hands. The armored man who ruled with fear under the Emperor. Everyone knows he was once a hero, but those who once hailed him a hero are gone, those that remember him now remember Vader, the killer, the fear, the monster. Even so, I continue on with his name. With *my* name. Because his actions don't define me, and I remember the man he died as. The man who gave his life for me, to end the one who pushed him into his chains of darkness and evil. He was the push we needed to win. Even if his acts of murder and terror still scar the galaxy today we also remember the hero. There is no need for you to be remembered or defined only by the past, Armitage. We offer you a future. *I* offer you a future."

 

Hux gave a broken sob. "She doesn't have a triumphant monster to redeem. She just has me. I've been defeated already - there's nothing she can do to save her name. Don't make me watch her be ostracized, mocked, and stepped on for my sake. Don't do that to me. Don't do that to her."

 

"You are set on this? Set against your own name when I know you can show you can be better?"

  
"I can't restore Hosnian Prime. I can't undo what I did. I can save her." He steadied his head. "I can spare her. That will be enough. That will be better."

 

"But *you* can be better as well. I wouldn't help you if I didn't believe that." "... You really believe it?" Luke nodded. "I do. Prove your father, your nay-sayers wrong. Laugh in their faces and show them you can be better. If your name is a problem... then take another name."

 

He laid his head back. "Would it work? Could they forget me?"

 

"No one will forget, but they will move on. The galaxy will move on as it always has. Move with it."

 

"Hmm." He held her a little closer. "...I want to keep her, Master Skywalker."

 

Luke smiled. "I know you do. I'll help you however I can."

 

"What name should she have?"

 

"That's up to you." He glanced at the Jedi. Through all this Luke had stood by him, helped him, taken care of him, and all he had ever asked was for Armitage to better himself.

 

"Can she have your name?"

 

He blinked in surprise. "My name?"

 

"Skywalker would obliterate Hux. Can she have your name?"

 

"I would be honored, and what of you, Armitage?"

 

"...What of me?"

 

"Will you keep the name... or take mine as well?"

 

He remembered his dreams - the laughter, and the warmth. "Do you want to give it to me?"

 

Luke nodded. "I would... if you are open to it."

 

"...I'd love to have your name. I'd love to leave mine behind."

 

"Then you will have it... and all that comes with if you want."

 

Hux smiled. "...I'd like that too."

 

Luke smiled back. "Then you shall have me."

 

The Jedi leaned in and pressed his lips to Hux's own.

 

It was warm, soft, and so gentle Armitage couldn't help but melt into it.

 

Perhaps it was a pedestrian life. But it was their life. And it was exciting in its own way. Armitage helped train the guard, when he wasn't with his daughter.

 

Little Nia grew knowing she was loved and knowing Luke as her father. Blood didn't matter. He was her father.

 

"Where are you, you little scamp?" She was also quite good at hide-and-seek. "You need to come out and do your homework." Armitage cradled his belly with one arm. "Come on out, Nia."

 

She hugged him from behind.

 

Before he could grab her, she was dancing away and had rushed out of their apartment. "Catch me, catch me!"

 

"Nia Skywalker, come back here this instant. You know I can't run." She came back. "Sorry, Mom."

 

"Now do your homework before your father gets back so we can watch a movie together."

 

"Okay." It wasn't what he had once envisioned, but he'd rather have this than any other life.


End file.
